The consumer price index (CPI) increased by 0.45 per cent in November compared to the previous month, mainly driven by adjustments in domestic fuel prices and disruptions to the food supply in areas affected by natural disasters, the National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Finance announced on December 6.

The figure was up 3.28 per cent from December 2024 and up 3.58 per cent year-on-year. However, the rise in the November CPI does not significantly affect the average CPI, used to measure inflation, the office said.

In the first 11 months, the index rose by 3.29 per cent. With this result, the full-year CPI will certainly be kept below 4 per cent, meeting the target set by the National Assembly and pursued by the Government.

The NSO reported that among the 11 major groups of consumer goods and services, upward price pressures were concentrated mainly in transportation and food – catering services, driven by fluctuations in input costs and unfavourable weather conditions. The remaining groups recorded slight increases due to the influence of global gold prices, year-end shopping demand, and labour costs; however, the magnitude of these increases remained modest and under control.

Conversely, several groups of essential goods saw price declines as demand for electricity and water decreased when seasonal weather changed, and global gas fuel prices cooled down.

In November, nine groups of goods and services posted price hikes while two recorded declines.

Accordingly, the transportation group recorded the sharpest increase at 1.07 per cent, contributing 0.11 percentage points to the overall CPI rise. It was followed by the group of food and catering services, which went up 0.95 per cent, adding 0.34 percentage points to the overall CPI.

Meanwhile, prices of other goods and services rose by 0.3 per cent; household appliances and equipment by 0.17 per cent; clothing, headwear, and footwear by 0.12 per cent; beverages and tobacco by 0.10 per cent; medicines and healthcare services by 0.06 per cent; education by 0.05 per cent; and culture, entertainment, and tourism by 0.01 per cent.

On the contrary, two groups recorded price declines, namely information and communications (down 0.06 per cent) and housing, electricity, water, fuel, and construction materials (down 0.10 per cent).

Domestic gold prices in November rose 1.9 per cent month-on-month, up 64.4 per cent year-on-year and 66.74 per cent from December 2024. Average gold prices during January–November soared 45.77 per cent year-on-year.

The domestic US dollar price index edged down 0.11 per cent in the month, but up 3.6 per cent year-on-year and 3.51 per cent from December 2024. It grew 3.94 per cent during the 11-month period.

The NSO reported that core inflation in November rose by 0.23 per cent compared to the previous month and 3.28 per cent year-on-year. For the first 11 months of 2025, core inflation climbed 3.21 per cent from a year earlier, lower than the 3.29 per cent growth of the overall CPI.

The main cause is that prices of food and groceries, household electricity, healthcare services, and education services – which contribute to the CPI hike – are excluded from the basket used to calculate core inflation. — VNA/VNS

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